Labour 'should be proud of education legacy'

Although many people have heaped criticism on the Labour party since the coalition government came to power earlier this year, the party's education policies helped to transform the lives of many children, it has been suggested.

In a letter to the Guardian, Sheffield MP David Blunkett said: "This week's GCSE results - and the staying-on rates and improvement in A-level results last week - are proof of the change in life chances of youngsters who in the past would have been written off."

He claimed that there are many examples of this in his own constituency, which until recently had one of the country's lowest university entry rates.

The former home secretary noted that one local school has gone from just six per cent of pupils achieving five grade A* to C passes to 82 per cent of pupils obtaining this.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said earlier this week that the new government is determined to succeed with its education reform agenda and give more freedom and professional autonomy to schools.